Secretary of State for Defence (Ministry of Defence)

The complainant submitted a request to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) seeking a list of the standard voice warning phrases used by the cockpit voice in the RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft along with documentation explaining their meaning and usage. The MOD disclosed a small number of phrases which were referred to in a television documentary but withheld the remaining information on the basis of sections 24(1) (national security), 26(1)(b) (defence), 27(1)(a) and (b) and 27(2) (international relations) and 43(2) (commercial interests). The Commissioner’s decision is that the withheld information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 27(1)(b) and that the public interest favours maintaining this exemption. The Commissioner has also concluded that the public interest favours maintaining this exemption. However the Commissioner has concluded that he MOD breached section 17(1) by failing to issue its refusal notice within 20 workings of the request.